


London Life

by ger_brit



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anger Management, Ashton & Calum & Michael Are 16, Ashton is Louis & Liam's Younger Brother, Bullying, F/M, Football | Soccer, Harry Styles & Michael Clifford Are Stepbrothers, Hate to Love, Louis & Liam & Niall Are 18, Louis & Liam Are Twins, Love Confessions, Luke is 15, M/M, Niall & Luke Are Brothers, Popularity, Zayn & Calum Are Brothers, Zayn is 19, harry is 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 20:51:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11298606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ger_brit/pseuds/ger_brit
Summary: Teenage boys stuck in high school and everyday life where drama, love, friendship, popularity and football rule.





	London Life

It was 7 am in Fulham and a beautiful sunny monday morning. A combination that shouldn't be allowed to happen according to Louis Tomlinson, just like he currently didn't understand how his twin Liam managed to be cheerful and stressed at the same time on a freaking sunny monday. But Liam had quite a good reason for being stressed, he had a math test first period and there was absolutely nothing he hated more than math. Apart from that Liam was a cheerful and happy guy most of the time. Louis wasn't worried about math, in such situations Louis was able to hold an enviable calmness. A calmness that wasn't a normal feature of Louis' character since he tended to be more of a fun loving troublemaker. He had made it his mission to prank, joke and eventually get in trouble without getting caught. Besides if he got caught he had a little brother to blame stuff on. Ashton was 16 and mostly up for fun and games but sometimes even he got tired of his brothers, especially of Louis.

"Mum, I'm taking the minivan! We're gonna pick Niall and Luke up." Louis shouted into the direction of the kitchen where Jay was making coffee.

"Stop screaming!" His mother cried out, making the boy biting back a laugh that wanted to escape and so he walked into the kitchen. "Lou, can't you guys walk today? I wanted to take it." She finally answered.

"Walking?" Liam stuck his head in the doorway. "Are you crazy? We have a reputation to live up to." 

"Liam don't be an asshole!" Jay said sternly. "Sorry Mum." Liam blinked with his big brown eyes, making him look like a teddy bear with too much muscles.

"It's fine, Sweetie" The boys mum just couldn't stay angry. Louis rolled his eyes and had another try "Please Mum, otherwise we might be late, besides Liam and I kinda promised Niall." 

"Argh boys, I need to know these things sooner!" Jay rubbed her head "How about I call Maura and ask her if you can take her SUV?" 

"Sounds alright but hurry" Liam said playfully.

They were making their way towards the Horan house, it wasn't far away at all. The Horan's and Tomlinson's were basically neighbours but they lived on opposite streets. Ashton complained about having biology AP and the fact that his only friend Luke wasn't in the same class as him because Luke sucked at school and would never even get the idea to take an advanced class but Luke was only 15 and he should technically be in a different grade than Ashton, so it didn't really matter because he could and probably would retake a year. 

Louis shushed Ashton saying " Be lucky we have a math test now." 

"Right math" Liam mumbled. Louis threw an arm over his by 7 minutes younger brother "Chill bro, you're gonna be just fine." 

 

Maura was already standing on the doorstep shouting "Morning boys, how are you?" as soon as she saw them. Maura was amazing, she was almost like a second mum to the Tomlinson brothers since the grew up together with Niall and Luke.

"We're good, Maura, thanks for letting us take the SUV" Louis greeted.

"Oh dear, of course it's not a problem. You know, I trust with anything but don't you dare break it, Lou." she laughed.

"Wait..I get to drive? Not Niall?" Louis was getting excited.

Maura just laughed "Of course. I think we all agree Louis is a world class driver compared to Niall..."

"Hey! I heard that!" Niall came running out of the house while forcing Luke to do the same. ( "Luke just get the fuck down here!")

"Don't talk to my baby like that!" Maura intervened.

"Oh c'mon he's not that small anymore!" Niall smiled rolling his eyes.

Finally Luke rushed out of the door and Louis could start the engine. Maura waved "Bye boys, be good and drive safe!" The boys waved back with Niall riding shotgun and already talking nonstop and being happy about nothing. Whereas Liam grew more and more nervous by every passing minute and Louis' whistling in rhythm with Ashton did certainly not help.

The twin being born only a few months earlier than Niall have been friends with him since birth because Jay Tomlinson was since she lived there a welcoming guest at the Horan house and vice versa. They often held dinner party or went out together. When Ashton was born, Maura and Greg became his god parents bringing the families even close together if still possible. As the three brothers dad left shortly after Ashton's first birthday, Jay and her children spent days at the Horan's seeking comfort. Luke's birth was a light in these dark times especially for Jay even though he wasn't hers. 

Maura was just happy she lived in such a great area perfect for her and Jay's children growing up and thinking about it actually made her shed some tears.

 

Math has always been hell for Liam. He thought about running as he was sitting in his desk, looking at his sheet and not understanding much of it. He tried to look over at Justin's paper who was cheating of this Harry kid a few seats over. Nobody really knew Harry that well and Liam had no clue if he was good at maths. Harry was a little popular but not really, mostly girls liked his curly hair and he was respected by most kids. But not by the football team, Liam's team since he was the captain for almost two years. Sometimes the called him a weirdo or other things, it was _just_ name-calling. Normally Liam didn't participate in it and he didn't think anything about it. His best friend Niall was also on the team and like Liam he didn't think about it but he didn't even participate in it, Niall didn't like violence and was a nice kid overall. Unlike Louis, the striker liked to mess with people and often convinced Liam, Josh and other players to join him. For some reason Louis wasn't fond of Harry at all even though he didn't know Harry, the boy happened to be the center of his jokes at times.

Louis just couldn't get over the fact that the sun was shining on a freaking monday morning but it actually made him smile honestly not cheekily. Besides he really looked forward to football practice which was another factor that kept his mood. As he, his twin Liam, his best buddy Niall and a few of their football friends were walking towards the break room since lunch time had arrived. While getting the newest gossip from Cheryl, who by the way was casually trying to get Liam's attention, they spotted Ashton sitting with a small dark haired kid with glasses.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Louis asked.

"Guys, that's Calum he is in Biology with me so be nice to him!" Aston glared at Louis, directing the last part of his statement towards him.

"Aren't you Malik's little brother?" Niall asked Calum curiously.

"Yes" Calum answered shyly.

Louis and Liam shared a look and nodded at the same time, like twins do: "Alright".

"So where's Luke?" Niall wanted to know. " I'll get killed by mum if I don't bring him home." He joked.  

Ashton hesitated "Well...you know Luke was, ehm being Luke and is in the principals office right now..."

Niall's cheerful face fell and darkened. "Not again" he growled. "Why is he always doing shit, man, what did he do this time?" he demanded to know.

"He got an F on a paper we had to turn in and Luke obviously didn't do it but then he threw a fit screaming about everything being unfair and then he ran out where he punched some kid." Ashton explained. He certainly didn't want to go behind his best friends back but Niall had a very scary and angry look on his face, besides the story would've come out anyway. After hearing that Niall got angry, very angry "When I see this little fucker, I need to teach him a lesson, somebody needs to wipe that stupid grin of his face, god oh can my brother be such a dumb little..." he began furiously.

"Okay, this conversation ends right here" Liam cut him off and led Niall toward a free table to calm down. Niall wasn't the type to get angry but sometimes things managed to get on his nerves that he felt like blowing up and letting his anger out. But usually he quickly cooled and went back to being Niall.

"Have a nice day, Ash, see ya!" Louis shouted and saluted grinning.      

Ashton just blushed and smiled at Calum. "Sorry about them, my brothers are kinda annoying."

"It's cool" Calum shrugged "It's not your fault, you're aware of that right?" He added after a while.

Ashton knew what he was talking about "I know but I feel kinda responsible in some weird and stupid way. It's just, I don't know. He's just been my best friend since well forever and has done so much for me and I just don't know how to help him. I wish he wouldn't be so careless but that's Luke, I guess." He sighed sounding frustrated.

Calum didn't really know what to say. "It's how it is, I guess" he answered then. "You know rumor is that it was Michael Clifford he punched in that hallway."

"Michael who?" Ashton asked.

"I think that's Harry Styles step brother. He's kinda an outsider. To be honest I never heard him speak, he's always keeping to himself and apparently listens to super old music."

"The guy who dyes his hair constantly?" Ashton asked. "Wait that's Styles brother? How did I not know this? Oh boy, Louis is gonna love this." Ashton got astounded.

"Yeah he's here since last year." Calum said. He was pretty observant for his shy nature. "I believe he's nice, just quiet."

"I don't know he seems to be so weird though." Ashton toughed.  

"Yeah" was all Calum answered while taking a sip of his water. But in his head Calum was thinking that Michael was probably just a little depressed because he didn't really fit into society and into high school and that he just had a different taste in fashion and music making him an outsider but interesting and independent as well. Calum also wanted to say that weird wasn't a bad thing, that being different shouldn't be considered "not cool" and that it's stupid that certain kind of people get bullied in high school. But Calum voiced none of his thoughts being too afraid of what his new friend, that he didn't want to loose, might think about him. So he kept quiet and ate his lunch while making simple conversation.                                                          

Luke was beyond angry, he was furious, especially at himself. Why did his anger always get the better of him, he asked himself. Clearly still pissed about what happened and because he was bored, he kicked his feet against the principals desk. Speaking of the principal, Luke absolutely hated that guy because he was never on his side and now he even dared to let him wait which only made Luke more angry.

When Luke was calm, he was mostly a nice and chilled guy but the 15-year old happened to get worked up pretty fast and couldn't hold control. He definitely had some serious anger management problems but Luke wasn't willing to do something about it and Maura just couldn't force her "baby boy" into doing something he didn't want and his father didn't want to go against his beloved wife.

"So Luke Horan, you mind telling me why Michael Clifford has a bloody nose, a black eye and a cut?" Principal Cowell came into his office.

Luke stopped kicking the desk immediately and pressed his lips into a thin line.                          

"Luke you've been here often enough to know how this goes. So c'mon, don't be difficult, just tell me what happened." Cowell sighed.

"Dunno, it just happened.." Luke mumbled.          

"So you have nothing to add to what I heard about you being upset and angry about a bad grade, running of and punching Michael Clifford in the face?!"

Luke just nodded while saying something inaudible about it being unfair but the principal cached that part.

"You think that's unfair?! Oh let me tell you what unfair means. It's punching someone innocent who has nothing to do with your little problems!"

"He stood in my way!" Luke suddenly exclaimed.

Now that made Cowell angry. "Oh so that gives you the right to punch him? Oh course, we all have to step back and hide when Mr. Luke Horan enters a room. Sure." 

Luke kept his mouth shut, knowing nothing to help his situation would come out of it. So the Principal took a very deep breathe and voiced his standard line when someone got in trouble.

"We have zero tolerance for violence and we except better from you." He added: "Since you broke the rules again and I don't want to suspend you according to you grades you can't afford to miss school. I say you're off football practice for this week obviously including today."

Luke's face stiffened, he had to use all of his inner strength to push his anger back but it was almost impossible because football meant everything to the talented left-winger. Luke bit on his lips and managed to nod his head a little.

"Good, instead of practice you will be in detention doing your school work and you'll be apologizing to Michael right now." 

Luke nodded. He didn't even know this Michael Clifford and he didn't care. All he knew was that if this kid hadn't been walking where he did, Luke would still be in practice this week. Once again he forced his anger down as he was following the principal to the nurse. As he walked into the room, he saw a curly haired guy sitting next to a green haired kid and pressing ice against the kid's right eye. Luke recognized him as Harry Styles and asked himself why he was there. So the other one had to be this Michael Clifford, okay he had a damaged face of course he was the one he had used as a little punching bag.

But seriously what kind of person dyed his hair green? And what's that for a shirt he is wearing? Oh my god this kid has no sense for fashion whatsoever. Luke's thoughts made him feel less bad about the fact he punched someone seeing as what kind of person he punched.

Just now he realized how strange he must've been acting since he stood in the room and was just staring as the green haired one.

"Sorry" Luke began, " I didn't mean to" 

Harry Styles just gave him a side glance and then focused his attention back to the other boys face. Michael looked at Luke with wide and sad eyes just nodding. He gave Luke his hand, who gladly accepted it and then without losing another word Luke flew out of the room.

"God that was so awkward." Luke thought. So awkward he actually forgot his anger of not being allowed to join practice, he was more upset than angry about it. Not being allowed to play was a huge blow for someone as football fanatic as Luke was. He was thinking about skipping detention but figured it wasn't worth getting into even more trouble. He was scared of loosing his spot on the team because of his grades and well his attitude and behavior. But what Luke didn't know was that because Coach wanted him on the team so badly that the Principal hadn't been able to throw him off. Coach Braun was a very relaxed person but an incredible coach, he was the reason for the high school football team being as successful as it was. Also, he loved his players and they loved him, treating the man with huge respect and trying to do best for the team. Coach Braun tried to give everyone a chance but even he did have some favorites. Lucky for Luke he was one of them and it wasn't because Coach liked Luke but because Luke always tried his best in every training session and game which paid off. Luke was a real good left-winger, who had also the ability to play as a striker. Like Louis, the striker scored a lot of goals, the most, he set the school a new record. Liam was a defensive midfielder, a so called number six and he was team captain since he did not only have a great understanding of the game and its tactics but his passes were excellent and feared by opponents. Last but not least, Niall was also on the team, playing as right fullback. Coach loved his calmness during the game but loved his talking and his loudness after a game less.

Ashton wasn't interested in football and he didn't get the hype. He loved music instead, he played the drums since he was eight and he was damn passionate about it. While his brothers were at practice playing football he was in the music room where he spotted Calum. " Hi, never seen you here." Ashton greeted his new friend.

"Yeah I had to choose a new extracurricular because apparently there is something wrong with my knee and I can't run track anymore." Calum answered.

"Oh sorry."

"It's okay. So tell me what can you do here?"

"Well I play drums." Ashton said shyly. "Oh that's nice, wanna show me?" Calum suggested.

Ashton shrugged and started playing. Also Calum had always liked music, when he was growing up he and his older brother Zayn were listening to music all the time. He deeply missed those times.

"That was really cool." Calum congratulated Ashton as soon as he stopped playing.

"Thanks! You wanna try?" Ashton proposed. "Alright why not." Calum smiled.

Out of the corner of the little music room, Michael was watching the exchange longingly. Despite his hair and fashion, people failed to notice Michael. Sometimes the 16 year old was glad about it but occasionally he felt upset about being lonely and not having any friends. He did have his family, a lovely stepmom, his chilled dad and an awesome stepbrother and he loved them all to death but he had this wonderful image of friendship, real friendship in his mind and there was nothing he wished for more. Michael's real mom died of cancer when he was little and ever since then his dad put all his effort into making their life a good one. He never had another woman after his wife but then just two years ago he met Anne, he just couldn't resist asking her out for dinner. He learned she also had a son just a year older than his own and he was totally blown away by her strength and authentic self. Since Michael was bullied at his last school and they moved anyway into the Styles household, they decided to enroll him in Harry's school. The two 'brothers' got along well directly from the start, they shared a love for music and art, hated jocks and bullied and both had a bizarre but creative mind. But that wasn't really a friendship, Harry wasn't the person he wanted to tell his darkest secrets to.

So Michael's wistful gaze was stuck on Calum and Ashton laughing together about something unimportant. He could've gone home, the nurse told him, but he wanted to avoid Anne fusing over him. He knew she was gonna find out anyway but he also loved being in the music room hearing all the different sounds and watching people having fun. He wanted to part of that too, but he never participated even though he could play the guitar but he hadn't practiced in ages and he didn't want to, maybe he was too afraid about the reactions of others but to be honest he was too depressed to since he didn't even play at home anymore.

Suddenly, the door was forcefully pulled open and a blond haired kid ran inside. 'Wait that's Luke Horan, the footballer who punched me, what is he doing here?' Michael thought. Luke went directly to the drum set, greeted Calum and said to his best friend: " Hey Ash what are you still doing here? C'mon the others are waiting." 


End file.
